'I can't praise him enough': Reading preparing to face in-form striker with Burton
Reading will have to keep former striker Jon-Dadi Bodvarsson quiet this evening as the Royals head up to relegation-threatened Burton Albion.
The Royals, on a two-match losing streak, head to the Pirelli Stadium to face the Brewers, who sit 21st in the third tier.
However, despite their lowly position, Gary Bowyer's side have won their last two fixtures and former striker Bodvarsson has netted three goals in that time.
Arriving from Wrexham last week, the Iceland international had scored 17 goals in 56 appearances for the Royals between 2017 and 2019 before going on to play for Millwall and Bolton Wanderers.
Speaking after their 4-2 victory over Rotherham United on Saturday, which put them within a win of moving outside the relegation zone, Bowyer spoke glowingly of Bodvarsson's impact in the East Midlands.
"I can't praise him enough with the impact that he's had considering he arrived last Thursday," he told the club media. "He's one of those players with the wonderful career that he's had so far that the lads admire him and how much of a professional he is, they've tapped into him and he's gone and delivered it with the goals he's getting himself. I don't want to call him an 'old fashioned' number nine because it's not trendy anymore, but he is that with his hold up play.
"You can also see the impact he's had on Rumarn (Burrell) in terms of teaching him how to play centre forward as well and that's what we wanted to bring him in. You could also see at the end there how much of an impact he's had on the fans, it's just fantastic that they've took him in so quickly and that's reflected in his performances."
Reading lost 2-0 at Leyton Orient, which backed up a 3-1 home defeat to Stockport County last week.
Looking ahead to the tie this evening, manager Noel Hunt said: "They’ve been busy in the transfer window so far. We need to make sure we’re alright, assess tomorrow [Sunday] and Monday and go again. They won again today so they’ll have a gee up. It’s up to us to go and combat it."
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